Nigerian Afrobeats star singer, Yemi Alade has released her fifth studio album. The album is titled ‘‘Empress’’ and it dropped today, Friday, November 20. judging by its first single, ‘‘I Choose You’’, it sounds like an exciting body of work .
Released under the imprint of Effyzie Music Group, it features the likes of Patoranking, Rudeboy, Dadju and Grammy-winning British singer, Estelle and a host of others.
The 15-track album, spans for about 48 minutes, and it was recorded majorly in Amsterdam, the set serves as Alade’s fifth LP following the acclaimed, Woman of Steel which birthed the global ‘Shekere’ featuring multiple Grammy award winner Angelique Kidjo.
Her joyous new album EMPRESS, is a celebration of her culture, full of infectious tribal dance rhythms and exuberant beats; it, like Alade, is making its mark across the world. Afrobeats now has its very own official chart in the UK, and last month the Grammys renamed their World Music category Best Global Music Album, to reflect the increasing significance of music from the African continent in Western music.
“Eight years ago, I didn’t even know if I wanted to do music,” says Alade. “I wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to be a teacher. I thought of being an astronaut. I wanted to be everything except a musician,” she laughs. Her mother was keen on her becoming a doctor, but a spanner in the works became clear when Alade kept fainting at the sight of blood. “I realised I had to derail my mother’s dream pretty quickly, so I decided to fail my Chemistry exam. I didn’t write a single answer. I got an F.”
After settling on studying Geography at university instead, Alade signed up to a local talent contest, which she won by singing Beyoncé’s Listen, and Sweet Dreams. “I really did come full circle!” she adds, while talking to the telegraph about Empress the album.